Wu-Tang Clan's secret album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin was just sold by online auction house Paddle8, according to Forbes. In case you don't remember, the legendary group's secret double- album was produced by Tarik "Cilvaringz" Azzougarh with RZA and recorded with the rest of the hip-hop collective's members over a six-year period. The album first became public knowledge when RZA discussed it back in 2014.
According to a press release, the album was purchased by a "private American collector" who has been vetted over the past six months. The buyer paid a record-breaking price for the album that exceeds the $300,000 paid for the rare recording of Elvis' first song, as well as the estimated $306,000 spent on the Quarrymen's (who would later evolve into The Beatles) sole album, That'll Be the Day. The unnamed buyer will receive the album along with the "hand-carved nickel silver box designed by Yahya, a gold-leafed certificate of authenticity and a leather-bound book containing the album’s lyrics and stories behind each song" along with "a pair of customized PMC MB2-XBD speakers worth $55,000, included after consultation with PMC.”
As previously reported, no one else will hear the album anytime soon as the album has an 88-year copyright that will automatically transfer to the owner of the work after 88 years. “However, it will still be his or her choice at that [point] to release it or not release it,” Cilvaringz previously explained.
